


Something Special

by trolololo007



Category: Victoria (TV)
Genre: Blow Jobs, F/M, Hand Jobs, Loss of Virginity, Master/Servant, Older Man/Younger Woman, Oral Sex, Porn, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Rough Oral Sex, Rough Sex, Sex, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-01-26 06:40:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21369808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trolololo007/pseuds/trolololo007
Summary: Sophie, the long suffering Duchess of Monmouth, cannot come to terms with the way her romance with a young servant, Joseph came to an end. But soon a shocking discovery mixed with a taste for revenge pushes her to open the door to her most secret and forbidden desires.
Relationships: Maidservant/Penge, Sophie of Monmouth/Penge
Kudos: 4





	1. The Duchess

**Author's Note:**

> Warning! This fanfiction contains sex, strong language and a promise of being amused. Reading it puts you in danger of scarring your brain! YOU READ IT ON YOUR OWN RESPONSIBILITY!

“Mama! I dreamt that I was lost and I couldn’t find you!” she heard the voice of her darling boy William and that was all it took to forget her escape plan with Joseph.

When Sophie, Duchess of Monmouth, thought that everything was about to change, that she was going to begin a new life in America with her young lover, the voice of her own guilt stopped her from taking any further actions. What kind of mother was she if she was prepared to abandon her own child? If she was prepared to sentence him to life with his monster of a father who did not care a straw about him? What kind of mother does that to her baby? The Queen was right. How far could she run away to forget William and not look back at this decision with regret? She loved Joseph but could she choose him over her own child? 

That evening when she was supposed to be on her way to Liverpool with Joseph she remained at home with her child. William could sense that something was up simply by glancing at her hastily packed bag and a look of serious concern on her face. He even asked her if something was wrong but all she could do was to lie about not feeling very well. There was no point in explaining anything to him as he was too young to understand the torment of her lonely, loveless life. And anyway, she was absolutely sure that he loved his father no matter how horrible his father was to him. If she left now, another issue would arise sooner or latter, which she wouldn’t be able to control. Sophie could imagine how easily the Duke would be able to turn their son against her in her absence and could not bear the thought of it. William was a beautiful, vulnerable boy who loved her very much and who deserved a better life than this. He deserved to be loved back by his mother, not to be drown in his own sorrow and hatred towards her.

Sophie cried that night. Her situation was unresolvable and she felt that whichever option she chose it was still a bad one. She failed Joseph whom she loved, and was afraid to fail William at the same time. There was simply no way out of this predicament and the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness was the worst. If only she could confide in someone… Someone who wouldn’t judge her but would offer some advice. In a split second she thought about Lady Emma Portman but in the end she only shook her head resignedly. Emma was her friend and helped her a lot but she couldn’t count on her when it came to this. It was Emma who revealed her love affair to the Queen and Sophie knew it. What Sophie also knew was the reason why Lady Portman said this to the Queen in the first place and that was because she found Sophie’s strong feelings for Joseph very worrying. Maybe she didn’t believe that he loved her at all? That she didn’t know but she knew enough to draw conclusion that it was better to leave Emma Portman out of this. 

“I’m on my own now” Sophie said to herself hoping deep down that Joseph wasn’t too angry with her and wouldn’t set off for America on his own. She wanted to see him again even if that meant seeing him for the one last time. Apart from William, he was the only person in the world she could genuinely smile at because she knew that in his eyes she was meaningful. Not as a Duchess but as a person and especially as a woman. 

“Joseph, please come back to me” she prayed in her thoughts before dropping off to uncomfortable sleep. 

***

But Joseph didn’t make his reappearance and life went on as usual. Sophie returned to the Buckingham Palace to serve as one of the Queen’s favourite ladies in waiting and her husband was still taking opportunity of bullying her at every occasion. Charles, the Duke of Monmouth, wasn’t a man who tolerated personal failures very well. He regarded Sophie as his personal property and hated the idea of her romancing with a footman and getting away with it. As far as he was concerned, Sophie humiliated him and had yet not paid the full price for it. And so, without further ado, he had to make sure that she suffered appropriately to her crime. The Duke knew exactly how to hit a raw nerve with her and the first thing he did was to send William away to privet school. Sophie understood that the plan was to keep her desolate and lonely, away from her lover and child. The Duke obviously thought her stupid enough not to know that she was being followed by his spies who were making sure that she wasn’t having any more criminal conversations with the servants. But Sophie wasn’t an idiot and was extremely careful. Even though she didn’t hear a word from Joseph and she was dying to find out where he was and what he was up to, she never made a single attempt to learn what happened to him. It was better this way for his sake and for her own. However, sometimes Sophie couldn’t help but think that Joseph was indeed a fortune hunter and therefore he left her in pursuit of another wealthy victim. After all, it had been such a long time and she hadn’t heard a word from him. Maybe Lord Palmerston was right and she wasn’t cautious enough with her feelings?

Sophie’s rumination was interrupted by the unpleasant sight of Penge, the palace steward. As Joseph’s former employer, the man used to be terribly rude to him and was also nasty enough to spy on them for the Duke of Monmouth. Sophie remembered seeing him at the Great Exhibition, the place she spoke to Joseph for the last time. He was watching them from the distance, the weasel. 

Sophie stopped walking down the corridor. Penge looked at her a bit surprised and did the same thing assuming that she needed him for whatever the reason was. The Duchess sensed the tension in the air but Penge was very calm and did not show any sign of nervousness.

“Can I help you, Your Grace?” he asked as professionally as ever.

Sophie wanted to shout at the man. She wanted to let him know what a treacherous little scoundrel he was and humiliate him in front of the other footmen who were standing nearby. It was his fault that the Duke discovered her romance with Joseph and that William was so far away from her. And now this horrible man just stood there asking if there was something he could do for her as if nothing had ever happened. How dared him? Her life was in pieces because of his greediness!

“No, you have done enough already, thank you very much.” she snapped staring daggers at him.

Penge had sense enough to bow his head in curtesy before carrying on walking but apparently that was a big mistake.

“I did not give you permission to walk away from me, steward.” said Sophie furiously.

“Pardon me, Your Grace, for assuming that you have no use for me as you clearly said so.” 

“Does that amuse you?” whispered the Duchess “You know exactly what I was talking about. People like you, soulless, opportunistic individuals, will do anything for the shiny coins. No matter the cost. How much did the Duke pay you? Say it proudly, I want to hear it. How much does it cost to ruin someone’s love and hope?”

“Your Grace, you are mistaken. I have never accepted any payment from the Duke…”

“Liar! I saw you at the Great Exhibition! You were there spying on us! Now Joseph is gone and it is all your fault!”

“I am not accountable for Joseph’s behaviour anymore as he quitted the job himself. He decided to leave the palace on his own accord. But if I may say this, Your Grace,” Penge lowered his voice to a whisper too “If what he said to me was true, where would he be now?”

Sophie’s heart started racing.

“What did he say to you?”

“He confessed that he had feelings for you, Your Grace.”

Sophie didn’t know what to say. She wanted it to be all true but she didn’t miss the worrying part of Penge’s talk. Where would Joseph be now if he really was in love with her? Where would he be now if the things that had been going on between them were real? And didn’t that mean that she had been taken advantage of from the beginning?

“Is everything alright, Your Grace?” asked Penge watching her face going pale.

“Yes, I think so. Thank you, steward.”

All of a sudden the Duchess felt like being on her own, away from the piercing eyes of the servants, and strode off leaving Penge behind. Her relief didn’t last long as she was told that the Queen wished to see her. 

“Why now?” she thought crossly.

She had just realised how stupid and immature she was to be convinced of Joseph’s advances towards her. He left her here for many long weeks, in this horrible palace, to rot in misery even though he knew how much she was ready to sacrifice for him. Now she understood clearly that he didn’t care and could even have been in America by now. The question remaining was: where did he get the money from for his ticket? Originally he wanted to sell her jewellery to buy two tickets for both of them but in the end she didn’t offer him any of her possessions. Could it be true that her husband paid him off? At the moment everything was possible and Charles was capable of doing anything. And so it seemed was Joseph. 

“Ah, there you are Duchess! I was worried that you have forgotten about me.” said Queen Victoria in her usual greeting-like way. 

“My apologies, ma'am. I was practicing the piano and lost track of time.” she lied quickly without much thinking.

The next hour Sophie spent on listening to the Queen’s moaning about Prince Albert being too busy to go horse-riding with her and about mischievous Bertie whose behaviour went on being difficult. The Duchess nodded her head from time to time to reassure the Queen that she was very much engaged in the monologue but in fact, her mind was constantly drifting away somewhere else. Why the hell did she believe Joseph? It was so obvious what he wanted from her from the start. But maybe the steward was lying? What if he revealed Joseph’s identity to Monmouth and then Monmouth did something horrible to Joseph? Sophie shook her head. That couldn’t have happened. She was sure that if it did, the Duke would have already boasted about it just to cause her more pain. Besides, Penge didn’t have any interest in telling her what Joseph had said to him. He could have denied the whole thing all together but he didn’t. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad man after all?

“Yes, that’s exactly what he said to me Duchess.” said the Queen who wrongly interpreted Sophie’s distant gaze “I’m glad that you think it very rude as well.”

“Yes, ma'am. But I’m sure that Bertie will soon grow out of it.”

“Bertie? I wasn’t talking about Bertie. I was talking about the Prince. Are you feeling well, Duchess?”

Sophie was terribly embarrassed.

“I’m… No, I think I have a headache, ma'am.” she said slowly.

“Then maybe you should have a lie down. I would hate keeping you here while you are indisposed.”

“Maybe I should, ma'am. Do I have your permission to retire?”

“Of course you have, Duchess. I only hope you shall feel better soon.”

And with a great relief, Sophie left the Queen’s chamber. Not everything she had just said was a lie. This morning’s dramatic events had indeed given her a slight headache but she didn’t intend to rest. She had slightly different plans; she wanted to find Penge. The task wasn’t difficult as Sophie already knew where to look. Months ago she searched for the palace steward in order to save Joseph from getting the boot. This time it was all about Joseph again but in rather different circumstances. 

“Fetch the steward for me, girl.” Sophie ordered to one of the maids.

Two minutes later, the man she was looking for stood in front of her. If he was surprised to see her, he didn’t show it this time.

“What can I do for you, Your Grace?” asked Penge. 

“Can we speak somewhere privately?”

Penge nodded and led her to one of the laundry rooms. A single look at Penge and the Duchess made the maids who were working there leave the room immediately. As soon as they left, Sophie went down to business instantly. 

“I want you to bring Joseph back to the palace.” she told Penge.

“That’s impossible, Your Grace.”

“And why is that?” 

“Simply because I have no knowledge of his whereabouts. Like I said before, Your Grace, he quitted the job.”

“And didn’t he ask you for the references? Didn’t he tell you where he was going to?” Sophie pursued. 

“No, Your Grance.”

“Oh, damn you, steward!” Sophie cursed with her eyes full of tears.

“I’m sorry, Your Grace. I cannot help you.” said Penge who obviously didn’t want to continue this conversation any longer.

“Please, tell me where is! I need to find him, I need to talk to him!”

Penge didn’t say a word.

“I will pay you, I promise. Just tell me how much you want. Please, I… I love him.”

“Your Grace…” 

Penge hesitated for a moment but eventually decided to carry on no matter how hurtful the truth was.

“I only know that Joseph is not in England anymore. He has left the country.”

“That cannot be true.” whispered Sophie.

“I’m afraid it is, Your Grace. I heard my servants speaking of it weeks ago.”

“Weeks ago?” 

Now Sophie was in rage. She was waiting for him to come back all that time and received not even a dog’s word. Any kind of explanation was the least she deserved and he didn’t even say goodbye to her. The Duchess remembered him smiling and gesturing at his heart the last time he saw her and felt like smashing the laundry room to pieces. Men, they were all the same. Joseph and Monmouth were much alike, the same breed of scum. And she was worrying about him getting hurt!

“Bastard!” she swore “How could he do that to me?” 

Penge took it as a rhetorical question and said nothing. Even though he must have been even more uncomfortable now, he decided against complaining and chose to wait passively for the Duchess to leave him in peace. But she had other plans. Sophie was so heartbroken and angry that she thought only about vengeance. Vengeance on Joseph and on her husband who separated her from her beloved boy.

“Do you like me, steward?” Sophie asked Penge unexpectedly.

The man gaped at her for a little while before uttering:

“I barely know you, Your Grace.”

“But…” Sophie came closer and pressed her hand on his cock “Do you like me?”

She didn’t have to wait long for a reply. She could feel Penge’s cock getting harder as she rubbed it through his clothing. 

“Your Grace…” said Penge in disbelief.

“Shh! I will take care of that for you, Master Steward.”

Penge was trying to back away but Sophie cornered him against the wall.

“Just where do you think you are going? You have a biiig problem here, Master Steward, and I am much willing to help you with it. Come on, do not tell me you don’t want me to.”

Penge exhaled and froze watching the woman’s hands. Sophie unbuttoned his trousers and grabbed his semi-hard cock. Looking at it while gently massaging it made her aware that his penis was bigger than Joseph’s. The Duchess smiled and accelerated her hand movements making Penge moan. The following moment their eyes met. Sophie thought it hilarious but kind of sweet that Penge was still making an enormous effort into keeping his face straight. Pity it didn’t work very well. From time to time Penge couldn’t help himself from vocalising his sexual pleasure and closing his eyes. Wondering how long ago did he have sex with anyone, Sophie placed his left hand on her breast encouraging him to squeeze it. It took him a while but he finally began pressing his gloved hand firmly on her boob while Sophie’s second hand reached for his balls to stroke them. The Duchess liked her little experience with Mr. Penge extremely because he did only as much as she allowed him to do. He wasn’t insolent enough to try and kiss her or to have a proper intercourse with her. He simply enjoyed as she played with his shaft and rubbed his balls. 

“Do you like it like that, Master Steward?” she asked him.

Penge did not answer but made the most of squeezing her breast. Sometimes he did it a bit too hard, but Sophie didn’t mind at all. She liked a little bit of pain and him enjoying himself. In fact, she liked it so much that to her own astonishment she found herself wet. But she knew that she couldn’t fuck him now in the place swarmed with servants. The Duchess detested the idea of ending it so quickly but on the other hand she didn’t have much choice. She played with his foreskin much faster and scrutinised his sweaty countenance. There was something fascinating in the way the man fixed his gaze at her, which made it different from any other gentleman’s stare she had ever received. Sophie got the impression that Penge might be a good companion in her bedchamber but right now she had to hurry up and finish the job. Penge didn’t stop looking into her eyes before he gave another quiet moan and came all over her dress. Sophie made sure that every drop of his seed ended up on her gown before addressing him in a professional manner:

“Penge, is that right?”

Penge nodded, barely able to speak.

“You ruined my dress, Penge. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“… I beg your pardon, Your Grace.” 

“And do you think that’s enough?” asked Sophie with a cheeky smile “Do you think you can just do it on whatever you please and ask for forgiveness without facing the consequences?”

She reached for her handkerchief and to Penge’s surprise she dried his forehead with it.

“You do not look presentable, Penge. I thought that as the palace steward you must look smart at all times. Am I wrong?”

“No, Your Grace.” answered Penge perplexed.

The Duchess delicately wiped his cock on the clean part of her dress and helped him with buttoning up his trousers. There was this awkward moment of silence when none of them said a word and were just staring at each other. Once playtime was over, Sophie couldn’t understand what had gotten into her and why she had done that to herself. Nevertheless, the wetness in between her legs reminded her that she enjoyed the act and that she didn’t perform it entirely for the purpose of revenge on the men that hurt her. Sophie was attracted to Penge and she really wanted to repeat their little adventure some other time. But what about him? He seemed quiet and cooperative but she really would like to know how he felt about her. His dark eyes continued to be fixed upon her revealing absolutely nothing. Perhaps, she should have asked him but she didn’t have any courage left at that time. The Duchess turned to leave. 

“Thank you, Penge.” she said on her way out without a glance back at him.

Penge watched her leave. Once she did, he collapsed into a chair thinking that he really needed a drink.


	2. Mr. Penge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the unexpected encounter in the laundry room, Mr. Penge can’t stop himself from indulging sexual fantasies about the Duchess. But Sophie seems to have forgotten their erotic adventure and keeps her distance from him. Meanwhile, the Duke of Monmouth arrives in the Buckingham Palace to have an audience with the Queen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! This fanfiction contains sex, strong language and a promise of being amused. Reading it puts you in danger of scarring your brain! YOU READ IT ON YOUR OWN RESPONSIBILITY!

It was five o’clock in the morning. Penge lied awake in his servant’s quarters listening to the familiar sounds of the royal household lazily waking up. He hated that with passion. To him another day in the palace meant nothing more than performing the same tedious chores, defined by the nobles as some important duties, time and time again. And what duties were those? Clattering a drum to the royal brats’ amusement; Letting ‘important’ people in and out of the palace; Ordering to lay a fire in the Queen’s chamber (the clever rule was that only Lord Chamberlain’s men could lit it); Wearing a stupid wig… He could go on and on like that but he didn’t wish to spoil his mood at thinking about this nonsense. How many years had he spent under the palace roof doing those things already and how many were there yet to come? Was he destined to die in this wretched place? Day by day it seemed like a never ending hell, but was it really?

The authority of the palace steward allowed Penge to cheat, rob the royal treasury and drink heavily to forget about his unfulfilled dreams of becoming a proper gentleman. What’s more, it gave him an opportunity to bully and shame people he didn’t tolerate. Especially bloody foreigners like Germans or Irish who shouldn’t be even permitted to stay in this household, not to mention this country. In Penge’s mind the foreigners were a threat to the British culture and values and he was proud to remind them whose domain the Buckingham Palace was. They needed to know their place just like he had to know his in the eyes of his superiors. 

Penge yawned and reached for his pipe. He was aware of his own hypocrisy on the matter of “not knowing one’s place” but chose to ignore it. After all, it was him who had recently gained a mastery in crossing the boundaries by having sex with the Duke of Monmouth’s wife. Looking back at that pleasant incident, Penge still couldn't believe it wasn’t just a rare wet dream of a middle aged man surrounded from all sides by young and beautiful ladies. Putting aside the questions of how and why it happened, Penge became troubled by continuous and persistent contemplations of the Duchess to the extent of displaying obsessive signs. Never would he forget that hand job in the laundry even if someone offered him a large sum of money for blanking it out. Sophie was his exact type, she was a Duchess and that moment, in that dingy room, she wanted to delight both of them by jerking him off. Penge could almost feel her soft and dainty hand on his cock and bollocks again every time he caught a glimpse of her or even pictured her in his thoughts. But it appeared that Sophie put him out of her mind. Sometimes he used to discreetly glance at her out of the corner of his eye but she seemed to take no notice of his presence at all. Was she toying with him to amuse herself or did she considered their secret encounter a big mistake? He didn’t know that and he doubted if he would ever know since Sophie ceased to acknowledge his existence. On one hand, it wasn’t fair but on the other he was no gentleman, only a palace servant of no importance whatsoever. He couldn’t casually approach her and ask her… about what? Penge painted a shocking image in his head in which he came towards the Duchess and asked her solemnly:

“An awful weather we are having today, Your Grace. Perhaps a sweet, romantic laundry fuck would brighten your afternoon time?”

Penge gave a sour chuckle and lit his pipe. Unwillingly, his thoughts jumped onto some less pleasurable business, which were his palace chores. There were some things he had to look into before breakfast and it was getting late. He rose from the bed and had a quick wash and a shave before carefully putting on the palace steward’s uniform. Since Sophie’s remark about him not looking presentable enough, he cared for his appearance more than he had ever cared before. Penge kept telling himself that maybe today was the day and that perhaps Sophie would give him some attention. 

While hastening through his downstairs realm, he nearly knocked over one of the recently employed maids whose name he didn’t remember. 

“Oh! I’m so sorry, Mr. Penge! I didn’t look…”

“Get back to work.” he snapped at her and walked off.

Penge could swear that those maids were getting worse and worse. Probably due to the influence the idle foreigners had on them. Damned pests! Most of the Coburg servants couldn’t speak English for toffee and Penge was very much surprised that the Queen didn’t see anything wrong with that. But then of course Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, was a German through and through and that must have had an enormous impact on some of her decisions, including the employment of the pesky German people in the palace. 

“People, Germans, doomed people to this fate.” Penge murmured to himself.

Moments later he bumped into a more pleasant face of the young hall boy Brodie. Penge had never admitted it but he was fond of the youth and always tried to provide him with guidance on how to survive in the Buckingham Palace jungle. He didn’t know whether this was true or not but Penge liked to think that he served as a good father figure to young Brodie whom he perceived as a son he never had. Brodie in turn would always be loyal and treat him with utmost respect, even though there was a long way before him and he still behaved like young boys do.

“Good morning, Mr. Penge.” Brodie beamed at him.

“Haven’t you got anything to do, boy? I could find you a hundred of interesting tasks if you seek my assistance.” answered Penge sarcastically.

“I’m doing fine, Mr. Penge.” said Brodie still smiling.

“Are you sure, Brodie? I could always find you a chamberpot to empty.”

“Thank you, Mr. Penge, but I think I’ve got a few more important errands to deal with first.”

“Well, come back to me as soon as you can. I’m not having you being bored.”

But Brodie already turned away and hurried off in another direction. 

“I won’t forget that, Mr. Penge!” he shouted.

Penge shook his head. Brodie was a good boy, maybe even too good for a place like the Queen’s palace, but having said that he lacked well-formed political and social views. Penge thought that they both were going to have to work on those if the boy ever wanted to take his place in the future. He would prefer to pass the baton to Brodie than to one of those maddening German sausages he couldn’t stand. 

Amazingly, when left alone to his own musing, Penge started dwelling on Sophie again. No wonder Joseph couldn’t stop himself from fucking her. Who the hell could? Her husband, the Duke, must have been a very stupid man to put her through such an ill treatment. Penge met him face to face only a few of times and didn’t think much of him. The man was a ghastly lout and referred to Sophie as his property. He was also unscrupulous enough to make plans to commit her to lunatic asylum. Penge failed to understand why anybody would want to lock a woman like Sophie away in Bedlam. Apart from being terribly sexy, the Duchess seemed intelligent, musically gifted and witty and as far as Penge was concerned, he was prepared to give anything for a wife like her. Not to mention that her romance with Joseph came to life because of Monmouth himself as he abused the poor woman without a shadow of a doubt. Penge could see that well-established truth in his eyes and he had seen a lot throughout his life in the palace. The Duke was a bully and possibly a wife-beater, which was the main reason why Penge tossed his own money back at him. He didn’t want to have anything to do with this swine but unfortunately fate was just about to play a nasty trick on him. 

***

The following day the Duke of Monmouth arrived in the palace and it was down to the steward to greet him as well as to escort him to the Queen. Penge detested the idea of any interaction with this disgusting creature, but he had no alternative if he wanted to keep his position. As expected from a man with a big, injured ego, Monmouth didn’t intend to be polite to the working class servant who had insulted him. Despite the fact that he wasn’t really kind to anyone, Penge knew that something much more unpleasant was coming, and that the whole situation was exacerbated by the fact he couldn’t defend himself nor hide behind the usual barrier of mockery as when dealing with a nobleman like the Duke, Penge had to be conscious of keeping his trap shut.

“Take my hat, bell boy.” Monmouth told him. 

As Penge was about to take a hold of it, the Duke deliberately dropped his top hat on the floor sneering. 

“Pick it up.” he ordered arrogantly “And my gloves!”

Hardly had Penge straightened himself up, when Monmouth’s gloves landed on the floor in front of him. He cursed loudly in his mind and bent again to pick the bloody things up. This bastard was having so much fun humiliating him in front of other staff members and laughing in his face. Penge wished he could wipe that silly smile off by throwing the gloves at the Duke’s stupid profile but instead he remained professional and self-possessed. He would never give Monmouth the satisfaction of being provoked by some petty and condescending remarks as life in service hardened him up enough to be well beyond that.

“My God, man, how awkward can you be? Getting too old for the job, eh? I’m assuming it is my duty to report to Her Majesty that she should find herself a new steward as you are no longer fit for purpose.”

Penge disregarded this comment and simply replied:

“My sincere apologies, Your Grace, but the Queen awaits your arrival. To avoid further delays, let me show you the way.”

The Duke nodded and Penge immediately took the opportunity to turn his back to him. He didn’t take even a step forward when Monmouth’s walking stick landed painfully on his shoulder and he heard the Duke whispering into his ear:

“You are a nobody. You were born a nobody, you will remain a nobody and you will also die a nobody. You are a pathetic, little man pretending to have some high morals but I can see straight through you. You are a just a nobody.”

Silence continued as the Duke awaited any kind of negative reaction from Penge. When he finally detected that there wasn’t going to be any, he removed the walking stick from Penge’s shoulder only to poke his back with it instead. 

“Go on, take me to the Queen, Mr. Nobody.” he said out loud.

The servants who witnessed the whole thing exchanged astonished and equally amused looks. Penge clenched his teeth in anger but decided it wasn’t worth telling those bastards off in front of his archenemy who was just counting on that type of weakness. Feeling his neck flushing, Penge quietly led the Duke to the Queen.

“The Duke of Monmouth, Ma’am.” he announced and moved aside. 

Monmouth stepped forward.

“Your Majesty.”

“You asked for an audience, Duke. Now tell me, what is the matter of great importance you wished to discuss with me.” said Queen Victoria rather rudely.

She didn’t like Monmouth. Penge very well remembered their last meeting and how the Queen decisively told the Duke off for confiding Sophie to her room, having no grounds for her insanity. The Duchess was exceedingly lucky to have Victoria as a friend. Had it been just an ordinary woman, she would have spent the rest of her miserable life locked up in the asylum. Every now and then Penge still suffered from guilt when reflecting on what might have happened to Sophie because of his rapacity and suspicion towards Joseph. 

“Well, at least I was right about Joseph being a terrible footman and a womanizer. And the Duchess apparently doesn’t bear a grudge.” Penge thought to console himself. 

Before he was able to sink into his usual moment of sweet daydreaming about Sophie, his attention drifted to Monmouth who was just about to address the Queen.

“I was hoping that we could speak privately, Your Majesty.” 

“We are alone in this room, Duke. What is your business with me?” answered Victoria impatiently.

“Not entirely alone, Your Majesty.”

The Duke gestured at Penge standing near the door. The Queen, who looked like she was ready to sell one of her children just to get rid of Monmouth, sighed and said:

“Very well. Leave us, Penge.”

Penge felt Monmouth’s hating eyes pinned to the back of his head as he was leaving the audience room. He was very unwilling to leave now, moments before he was about to discover what Monmouth was doing in the palace and how much of it had to do with Sophie, but there was nothing he could do to change the Queen’s decision. Penge was there to listen and obey, not to talk back and oppose the royals, so he just quietly got on with it. He wasn’t at all worried about the Duke striving to convince the monarch to sack her palace steward. Even if that scoundrel was brave enough to lick this topic, there was no chance that the Queen would listen to his gibberish. Penge imagined that any “attack” on her loyal servants would have been interpreted by the Queen as a form of personal criticism, if not grave offence. But Penge highly doubted that Monmouth was stupid enough to even mention anything about him to Her Majesty. He was a typical cow which made a lot of noise but gave very little milk, and besides, in the Duke’s eyes Penge was a nobody. Monmouth said it himself and to make matters worse, he said it in front of Penge’s subordinates who deemed it funny.

Penge cursed under his breath. He was absolutely sure that the whole palace would have been gossiping about it by now and he wasn’t particularly keen on that turn of events. Respect among his staff was everything he had been working on here for years and now he was on the right way to lose it because of Monmouth’s stupid honour.

“I don’t believe it, Mr. Edwards.” 

“Believe it or not, I was there, standing right behind him.”

“And what did Mr. Penge do?”

“I don’t know what he did but I can certainly tell you, Mr. Edwards, what you are supposed to be doing right now.” said Penge sharply.

He has just entered the kitchen to find Edwards spreading rumours to a group of downstairs staff who formed an immensely attentive audience. Penge’s sudden appearance made the servants scatter.

“Not you, Mr. Edwards.” Penge stopped the man who was trying to sneak out with the rest “I can see that you’ve been happily telling some tall tales to win the applause of the crowd.”

“No sir, I…”

“Do not interrupt me.” Penge’s voice dropped to a more vicious tone “You are out of order and soon you might be out of work too. Spread one more gossip in this palace and you will be free to join a circus and entertain more people with your big mouth as a clown. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir.” answered Mr. Edwards.

“Mr. Penge?”

“What now?” Penge barked at Brodie who handed him a very elegant-looking letter.

“From the Duchess of Monmouth, Mr. Penge. Her Grace instructed me to urgently deliver it to you.” whispered the boy.

Penge dismissed Edwards with a casual hand gesture while looking at the white envelope addressed to Master Steward. Overexcited and curious about the letter’s content, he rushed to his little office and sat at the table with the paper in his trembling hands. Penge was dying to know what Sophie wrote to him, so he immediately cut the envelope open with a little penknife. The message was short and it said:

“I heard what happened earlier in the day. (…)”

Penge wished she didn’t as it would spare him an utter humiliation. Nevertheless, the Duchess knew about everything and he had to take it as it went.

“(…) It is my desire to meet you in a safe place within the palace tonight.

D.”

The letter “D” must have stood for the Duchess. And what about that “safe place”? Was it up to him now to organise the place for this rendezvous? Taking a clear piece of paper out of his desk, Penge pondered on why they had to see each other exactly in the palace. Theoretically they could both leave those walls at night and spend time together somewhere outside without the fear of being discovered. But maybe he was wrong and perhaps someone would have noticed the coincidental disappearance of the Duchess and the palace steward the very same night. Maybe that was what Sophie was so afraid of?

He scratched his sideburns thoughtfully then leaned over the sheet of paper and scribbled the words “your bedchamber” on it. This might have sounded absurd but it made perfect sense. Penge could get upstairs easily enough without obtaining any suspicious looks from the household staff whereas Sophie would have had much harder job to do reverse. Hiding their romance in the plain sight might have played a trick on everybody and Penge was tempted to try that one out. Hardly anyone, particularly not a fool like Monmouth, would have a suspicion about the steward and the Duchess. Mainly because he was too old for her but also because of Sophie’s recent affair with Joseph, which everyone believed to leave Sophie heartbroken. But what was once broken by someone could have been effortlessly mended by somebody else. 

“Or a nobody like me.” he thought triumphantly.

To give his written message a final touch, Penge signed it with the “MS” initials.

“Master Steward.” he chuckled to himself with smug glee and called Brodie to take the note to the Duchess.

***

The door to Sophie’s chamber was slightly opened and Penge creeped inside with his heart pounding. There was absolutely no problem with getting up here as nobody paid much heed to the palace steward and his allegedly boring affairs. Because who would have thought that the most beautiful Duchess in the palace could have been in heat for a man like him? In real life those things never happened and the Duchesses, if unfaithful to their husbands, often craved young and handsome boys, at no time older men like him. But Sophie was different. She wanted him and he could feel that right there, in that laundry where she gave him the most amazing hand job.

Penge, who was already turned on by the circumstances of their meeting, got more thrilled only by standing in the pitch black room and waiting in anticipation of new pleasurable experiences.

“Lock the door, please.” he heard Sophie’s voice coming from the dark. 

When he did what he was asked to, Sophie lit a candle and held it next to her face.

“Come closer, don’t be shy, Mr. Penge.”

The Duchess smiled at him charmingly. If it was up to him, Penge would have pushed her on the bed and showed her what he was fantasising about for days, but it was Sophie who was the upper-crust here. In other words, Penge had to halt the action and first figure out how much freedom he was allowed to have. 

“Good evening, Your Grace.” he managed to say in his still executive manner.

“Good evening.” said Sophie softly “You seem a little tense, sir. Is that the reason why you visited me tonight? To become…”

The Duchess placed her hands on his chest and her lips almost brushed his ear when she whispered:

“… more relaxed? If so, you are in the right company. I think you deserve a special form of apology after the unfair treatment my husband had given you.”

“A special form of apology, Your Grace? I wonder if we’ve got the same thing in mind.” said Penge whose blood was slowly seething with lust.

“You are about to find out. But first, I must say, I admire your composure. The Duke would have been delighted to provoke you and see you getting sacked but you outsmarted him and ignored his petty offensiveness. You behaved like a true gentleman, sir.”

“I am far from being a true gentleman, Your Grace, and you know it.” said Penge without a shadow of bitterness.

“Oh, yes you are, sir. I’ve seen it myself.”

Sophie put her hand on his crotch to check for his erection. Penge who thought he had prepared himself for this, jumped in surprise when the Duchess inspected the hardness of his cock. She giggled naughtily and kissed him passionately on the lips. In acceptance of her invitation, Penge forcibly returned the kiss, totally surrendering to his sexual appetite. It felt so good to penetrate her mouth with his tongue that he was almost upset when Sophie decided to stop and moved back. 

“Don’t look so saddened, Master Steward. My job is to cheer you up and I would hate myself for failing you.” Sophie said stripping her nightgown off.

Penge gaped at her with mesmeric astonishment. The only thing he had in mind was that it was worth ten times to cease kissing her in favour of admiring this gorgeous body. But what Sophie did next was beyond his wildest expectations. She drew closer and allowed him to touch her pussy. 

“My God, you’re so wet…” he blurted out while his hand sank into her warm and stringy body fluid. 

Sophie grinned and went down on her knees before him.

“Force me, sir. Force me as if I was your whore.” she begged him.

There were moments in Penge’s life when he had to be told about something twice to get his act together and he had to admit that this wasn’t one of them. The Duchess had just implored him to take her by force and he had a duty as well as strong desire to fulfil her wish. He instantly pulled his trousers down exposing his erected cock inches away from her face. Sophie licked her lips with an innocent smile and opened her mouth as he made movement to shove his manhood inside her. Penge began tentatively but soon started really going at it, thrusting his cock deep down Sophie’s throat and causing her to choke on it. He paused while the Duchess pulled herself together and lifted up her eyes full of tears to gaze at him. She was so tremendously sexy that he lost the rest of his self-control levels and dragged her head towards his cock.

“She wants that. She wants to serve as my slut.” he thought while fucking her mouth as he never fucked anything or anyone in his entire life. 

And indeed, Sophie didn’t complain. She was still kneeling like a good girl in front of him and enduring a very rough treatment on his behalf. Penge tugged her hair and made her look at him for his own satisfaction. The Duchess’ face was moist with tears and he could see trickles of saliva running down from the corners of her lips. Those were the signs of hunger for his old cock, which meant that he couldn’t leave her starving for long. When he finally sated with the state of her face, he resumed doing her mouth with the same dominant attitude and force. The adrenaline arising from fucking her in her own bedchamber combined with the strongest positive sensations gave Penge some extra brawn to perform. His balls were hitting Sophie’s chin with a quiet but continuous noise making him feel more and more ecstatic. So bloody ecstatic that he had to stop himself at least a couple of times from shooting his loads down her throat earlier than planned. Much as he loved to, it would have spoilt all the fun for both of them, so he kept it up. And when it became impossible, he gave himself a little rest by smacking Sophie’s cheek with his hard shaft. The Duchess’ face looked a mess and Penge took huge pride in the view but nevertheless, she watched him with interestingly servile expression. That little harlot appreciated serving him tonight and was doing pretty damn well submissively awaiting his further commands. Penge grabbed her by the hair again and this time drew closer to his balls.

“Suck.” he instructed her sternly.

Sophie didn’t dilly-dally and began sucking his balls while he masturbated above her head. Her hot lips and flexible tongue massaged the most sensitive part of his body so well that he moaned and hissed in contentment. 

“Good girl… good girl…” he whispered closing his eyes. 

Not wanting to miss a lot, Penge quickly went back to ogle his sweet prize working on his balls. Sophie looked so sweet with her mouth full that it was almost impossible not to and Penge wondered whether this whole master-whore act was arousing her. He would love to slide his fingers in between her thighs to check but it was much easier just to make her gobble his dick again. And so he made her. He put his gloved hands at the back of her head to keep her still while holding his cock deep down her throat. 

“That’s it. There’s those pretty tears.” Penge thought observing new tears rolling down Sophie’s cheeks. 

He wrestled with her for a while while she gaged, and let her go only when her face had gone considerably red. Sophie ended up on all fours coughing and struggling for air. Penge gave her time to recover and did the same thing over again. Even though he never heard a slightest complaint, he wanted to show the Duchess who was the master in this game, strip her of all her power and influence and do everything to his own liking. He adored the control he had over Sophie and felt genuinely important about himself, almost as if he wasn’t a servant but a gentleman. And perhaps that’s what Sophie saw in him in the first place. She saw him for who he really was in contrast to her bastard of a husband, the Duke. After all, she admitted to that herself and chose him for her lover.

Penge made a short interval just before his tonight’s last act and started playing with Sophie’s little ears. The Duchess could only look at him fixedly preoccupied with slurping his big cock. That’s how Penge liked it, her being focused just on devotedly giving him sexual pleasure. He was supervising her but there was nothing he could say about her performance apart from it being excellent. And now, he was anxious to see if she was able to pass the final test.

“I want to come into your mouth.” he said suddenly.

There was no opposition. The Duchess with sparkling eyes stuck her tongue out and began licking her lips while he masturbated to that appealing sight. Everything was dreamlike and he couldn't believe that he was just about to come on this beautiful woman’s face, but this was really happening and he had no regrets whatsoever. Someone could catch them then and there but he didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was Sophie kneeling in front of him and begging for some of his seed.

“Ahh, here we go… here we go…” groaned Penge reaching climax.

A few trickles of his semen landed on the Duchess’ face but most of it ended up in her hungry little mouth. Sophie waited patiently until Penge could look at her again and then showed him the content of her mouth before swallowing the whole lot. Once she did that, she licked his head clean and waited for the approval of her master. Breathing heavily, Penge smirked triumphantly and stroked her blond hair with a lordlike superiority, which Sophie absolutely adored. At least he thought so when he observed her fawning all over him and smiling sweetly.

“That was very tasty, sir. How will I ever thank you enough for this service?” asked the Duchess fingering the rest of his warm spunk of her glamorous complexion. 

Penge sniggered and helped her back on her feet.

“Oh, I dunno.” he said with a mock consideration “Perhaps by being a good and obedient girl next time? Because surely this isn’t the last time we had some fun together.”

“That’s entirely up to you, sir. After all, I am one of your personal possessions now and I trust you shall use me wisely.”

Penge smiled again but then decided there was something about this statement he didn’t quite like.

“Forgive me, Your Grace, but I’m nothing like your husband.” he said returning to his formal manner of speaking.

“My name is Sophie. And yes, I know you are not the same as the Duke. Scarcely anyone can match his foulness and you are too decent to even make a faint comparison. Please don’t be mad at me, I wasn’t trying to offend you. I was only trying to make you feel special as I see you as such. I feel like I haven’t been that attracted to anyone before meeting you, sir.” Sophie said apologetically.

“Now that was quick. And what about dear old Joseph? As far as I remember, you said you love him and want him back.”

“Joseph who?” Sophie sneered.

“You pleaded with me to bring him back to the palace! ‘Please, I love him!’ ” Penge teased her changing his voice to a higher pitch.

“Yes, and do you remember what happened shortly after that?”

Penge thought about their first time in the laundry where Sophie acted like a cat in heat. Reading his mind, Sophie laughed and he joined in. Penge didn’t remember when was the last time he felt so happy and relaxed in the Buckingham Palace. Maybe at the time when he had bought those wretched railway shares convinced he would be leaving this place for good as a wealthy gentleman. Sadly, this had never happened but looking on the bright side, if it had happened, he would never have become intimate with Sophie, which would have been a great pity. Frankly, if he had a choice, he would probably opted for doing the Duchess option, or at least he wanted to think like that in order to have no regrets. 

“Could you tell me your real name? I never had a chance to ask you but I do want to know if we are to meet again, sir.” Sophie asked him.

“It’s Cornelius, Your…” Penge bit his tongue in time “Cornelius Penge.”

“Well, Cornelius sir, I hope you had plenty of fun with me tonight.”

“I would lie if I said I didn’t. You do know what to do with a cock in your mouth, girl.” he simpered looking pleased again.

He liked Sophie apologising and showing him respect. He also wondered what Monmouth’s reaction would be if the scum knew his wife had just given him a lip service. That very proud part of his ego wanted Monmouth to discover the truth and be furious about it, but the gentle voice of reason was trying to save him from making a big and stupid mistake. It was better for everybody if the Duke didn’t find out but it was also good to see him humiliated and enraged again. After all, Joseph legged it to America and didn’t suffer the consequences of fucking his wife. And now it was him, Penge, who shagged her as he liked it and the poor idiot Monmouth trusted that Sophie was still lamenting over the long gone pretty boy.

“I could suck you again anytime you want, Master Steward. All you have to do is give me a simple order and I promise I will be a good girl.”

“You will.” said Penge oppressively and force kissed her on the lips. 

She was all ready for it and became powerless as soon as he touched her. For terribly excited Penge it was another step forward in crossing the boundaries between what servant could and couldn’t do. Sophie belonged to him for indefinite period of time and he wanted to make sure that he would make the most of her young body for as long as possible. She was no common whore, she was the Duchess of Monmouth and that gave Penge an enormous self-esteem boost as well as something to boast about (not that he was foolish enough to do it while still working in the palace). And yes, he indeed felt very special and was already plotting in his twisted mind what he should do to Sophie on next occasion they meet. Although Penge had a few charming ideas, he didn’t intend to reveal them to the Duchess just yet but surprise her in good time. One thing for sure, Penge wasn’t the type of a man who was prepared to be held back when he seized the golden opportunity and that she was about to learn very soon.


	3. The Maid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mary is a bashful young girl who has just arrived at the Buckingham Palace. Her first days of work as a maid in the royal household are purely disastrous but Mary has no intention of leaving her new job. That’s because Mary has a secret which will be soon discovered by none other than Mr. Penge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfiction contains sex, strong language and a promise of being amused. Reading it puts you in danger of scarring your brain! YOU READ IT ON YOUR OWN RESPONSIBILITY!

Amongst the downstairs staff, rushing in every direction and not paying attention to each other, was a girl called Mary. The girl looked lost and confused and one could tell she was a new maid in the palace only by having a glance at her. Mary was trembling as she didn't like crowded places, especially crowded with lots of unkind people who ignored her most of the time she needed help. The palace was enormous and she could easily get lost in it without any guidance from the more experienced servants. But majority of them didn’t want to listen to her and walked away minding their own business. Mary hated being shunned and wished she could go back where she came from. Unfortunately, the young maid’s presence was also unwanted in her family home due to the fact she had been treated there as another mouth to feed. Her father in particular wanted to get rid of his eldest daughter and suggested to his sister in law that she should get Mary a position in the Buckingham Palace. The aunt did that reluctantly and requested some money for lending the girl a hand. But it turned out that once she got what she wanted, Mary was left to her own devices in the stressful environment with no hope of ever getting out.

The work was hard, the constant tiredness even harder. Early in the morning Mary frequently found herself so tired that she was forced to carry on working with her eyes shut. That didn’t do her any favours in the long run as one morning she run smack into the palace steward himself. His name was Mr. Penge and the truth was he wasn’t a very pleasant man.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, Mr. Penge! I didn’t look…” 

Mary was terrified. Her heart was pounding at the thought of being sacked on her second day at work as she had nowhere else to go now. Mr. Penge was already a legend in the Buckingham Palace. Mary heard stories about how horrible he could be to his staff and was almost certain that he wouldn't let that one go so lightly. But apparently Penge didn’t show much interest in tormenting her that day. 

“Get back to work!” was his only respond.

He never looked at her when he spoke and rushed off like the rest of the "always busy” servants mumbling to himself with annoyance. Mary sighed with relief and watched him disappearing round the corner. Without a doubt, Mr. Penge was an extremely powerful and fearful figure in the palace. Mary was obliged to introduce herself to him yesterday, when she had just arrived, and found herself speechless facing this very severe-looking middle-aged man. The girl managed to stutter her name and let him do the rest of the talking, nodding her head from time to time in understanding. Penge made sure that she was scared enough not to disobey the rules or fool about at work. That was one of the things he was terribly good at and Mary was quite impressed that even the hunkiest of servants in the royal household had big respect for him. He knew how to adjust his speech to the needs of his interlocutor, how to charm, banter or just be intimidating. Mary had an impression that Mr. Penge generally enjoyed being threatening and intentionally chose this as his image. She supposed it was much easier to earn respect through terror than kindness. But that also had its bad side. Almost every downstairs staff member who feared or hated Penge was delighted to hear about the Duke of Monmouth offending him in front of the other footmen. Everybody was talking about it for days. In fact, Mary was present in the kitchen when Mr. Edwards was spreading rumours to whoever wanted to listen to him.

“And then he poked him with his walking stick and called him Mr. Nobody!” stated Edwards overexcited.

“Good! Good! That will teach that miserable bastard a lesson!” replied someone with satisfaction.

“How very rude.” someone else voiced Mary’s thoughts. 

“Penge should try and spit out his own walking stick sometimes. Maybe he’ll stop being such a stiff!” Mary heard one of the young boys laughing to his friend.

“I don’t believe it, Mr. Edwards.” said one of the senior kitchen maids with her hands on her sides.

“Believe it or not, I was there, standing right behind him.” said Mr. Edwards.

“And what did Mr. Penge do?” 

Everybody looked at the new maid, Mary, as she was the one who asked the question but there wasn’t any time for replies. Penge walked into the kitchen and it didn't look like he wished to join their little congregation. 

“I don’t know what he did but I can certainly tell you, Mr. Edwards, what you are supposed to be doing right now.” he said sinisterly.

Mary jumped in alarm and looked about the people disappearing in various directions as the palace steward approached. Some of the young boys who had noticed that sniggered at her. Mary ignored them and managed to sneak out of Mr. Penge’s sight while he was telling off Edwards.

“You are out of order and soon you might be out of work too. Spread one more gossip in this palace and you will be free to join a circus and entertain more people with your big mouth as a clown. Do I make myself clear?” she heard him saying and understood immediately what it meant to make Mr. Penge mad. 

While she was celebrating her narrow escape again, the lads wouldn’t leave her alone. Whenever she came across them, they would start mocking her and pull idiotic jokes about Penge. That state of affairs continued for days and days and Mary always found the strength to pretend it didn’t bother her. But one day she lost it big-time. 

“Hey Mary! Mary! Watch out, Mr. Penge is coming behind you!”

“No, he is not! Just shut up!” she burst out with anger.

All three boys pulled faces and laughed loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Shut up and leave me alone!”

“Be careful.” Abigail, the Queen’s dresser who happened to be there, warned her. 

But not in time. It happened that Penge was really standing behind her. Mary faced him with her mouth opened and her brush hitting the floor with a loud thud.

“Language, girl, language. This is not your family home, this is the Queen’s palace. You must forge your good manners if you wish to work here.” he said.

“That’s not fair, Mr. Penge. She didn’t do anything wrong, the boys were teasing her.” Abigail jumped into Mary’s defence.

“What boys? I see no boys here. Are you seeing things, Mrs. Turner? Don’t you think it’s much too early for that? And what about you, girl?” he turned to Mary with a smirk “Thinking about boys too much? Having a thirst for romance? I thought you understood that there is no place for that sort of thing around here, but if you can't help yourself…”

“Oh, Mr. Penge, I wish you left her alone. Can’t you see she is terrified?”

Mary had just only realised that she was shaking uncontrollably. She wanted to put an end to that but she couldn’t, not with Penge standing so close and jeering at her. Sinking through the floor wasn’t an option either and since Mary established that, she whimpered and ran away. The palace was a horrible place full of spiteful people and she had enough of it. There was nowhere for her to go but she decided to leave anyway. She had to quit and liberate herself from this living hell. Maybe with a bit of luck she could get another job somewhere else? Somewhere nice, away from silly boys, callous people who treated her like dirt and Mr. Penge? 

“Mr. Penge…” she whispered recalling how the steward humiliated her in front of a group of people.

She had to leave, the present circumstances were forcing her to do that. But what about her reference? There was no way she would ever get any good reference from Penge and she was well aware of that. Weeping Mary hid her face in her aching hands. 

“There you are!” Mary heard a woman’s voice and looked up.

It was Abigail Turner. 

“What do you think you are doing, Mary?” she asked her.

“What does it look like to you? I’m leaving, I’ve had enough.”

“Just because Penge is a dog and some boys provoked you? C’mon girl, there’s no reason to be so dramatic.”

Mary’s face became red in an instant. What could the Queen’s dresser possibly know about her life, her problems and how she felt? That woman was dealing with the Queen herself! She never scrubbed the floors with a brush, washed marble hearths or dusted any furniture. What did she know about being exhausted all day and counting down the hours to go back to bed? Abigail wasn’t sitting inside her head and didn’t know how much Mary was missing her family and how much she would like to go back to live with them. And instead, she had to put up with the sarcastic palace steward and many other dreadful people who just loved seeing her humiliated and laughed at. This place wasn’t for her and she had to move.

“I’m not being dramatic!” she shouted “Everybody hates me here! They hated me since day one and I’m feeling more and more homesick!”

“Well, if that’s the case, why don’t you come back home then?” asked Mrs. Turner.

“I… I would love to but… I can’t.”

“Why?”

Feeling ashamed that her own father kicked her out from home, Mary didn’t want to share her story with a complete stranger.

“I just can’t. Please, don’t ask me about it again.”

“All right, so what are you going to do? It’s not sensible just to walk away. At least you’ve got food and a roof over your head here. But you have no idea what awaits you outside, Mary. You could end up on the streets doing something you don’t necessarily want to do.”

“Like what?” asked Mary knowing exactly what Abigail was on about.

“Like prostituting yourself? Please, don’t leave the palace. Do you think that only this place is full of awful people? Everywhere is splendid when we aren’t there, Mary. And about those boys who are haunting you, I can help you out by talking to Penge.”

“M-Mr. Penge?” Mary stammered “No, I don’t want you talking to him. He was there today, knew what happened and happily joined in!”

“He isn’t at all that bad, you know? The good thing about him is he has no favourites here and that’s why I’m sure he could say a word or two to those three. Anyway, I bet the rascals fancy you and that’s where the problem lies.”

“Oh yes, for sure.” said Mary rolling her eyes.

“If you are doubting that, then you don’t know men well enough yet.” said Mrs. Turner giving Mary some food for thought.

Abigail might have been right but nevertheless, Mary would rather avoid the boys’ rough advances without Penge’s help. He had already an extremely low opinion of her and took her for a girl who was chasing after lads. Why should she give him any more opportunities to ridicule her or consider her weak? Mary wasn’t weak, otherwise she would have stuck to her decision on leaving the palace for good. But right now, after having a chat with Abigail, she made up her mind and intended to stay. Little did she know that this choice would largely influence her life and it was bound to happen very soon.

***

Late at night, Mary was crawling downstairs after washing the grates in some of the biggest and most beautiful rooms in the palace. Normally, she would have been terribly excited to see nice and expensive-looking places but that night she was again hugely fed up with her workload. The girl was alone as another maid who was supposed to be helping her hurt her fingers. Mary took pity on her and finished the job on her own and now, feeling completely worn out, regretted she didn’t make the maid get someone else to help her. That wasn’t a one person job and Mary carelessly ended up with sore fingers herself. 

Upset but not yet tearful, the girl quietly descended the stairs until she heard the gentle noise of two people having a conversation. Mary stopped and listened. There were a man and a woman standing just around the corner, oblivious to her presence. The man seemed annoyed for some reason and the woman was trying very hard to console him.

“I’m so sorry, Cornelius, but it’s not up to me.” said the woman.

“You could just pretend that you’re indisposed, it’s that easy. I haven’t seen you for days and now you are telling me you’re going away?” replied the man irritated.

Mary would never forget that voice. As she guessed the identity of the man, her body refused to listen to her and she began trembling. It was Mr. Penge. Quite unhappy Mr. Penge on top of everything else, which put Mary in peril were he to discover that she happened to accidentally spy on him and his mysterious companion. 

“I’m sorry…”

“Damn, stop saying you’re sorry!” he said angrily.

Mary used this opportunity to make a slow retreat.

“The Duke is spying on me. I’m afraid for you, for us, for my boy…”

“You don’t want to see me again. Is that what it is?”

“No.” stated the woman firmly “All I’m trying to say is to take it easy for a while. I’m going away with the Queen and you are going to stay here and look after the palace…”

“I can see that I’m back to being no more than just a palace keeper for you, Your Grace.”

“No! Enough of being waspish. Let’s just slow down a little, for a short while, please.”

“You were never the slow down type, Sophie. Ever. First Palmerston, then Joseph and now me. You think I don’t know your reputation? Maybe there is someone else on your horizon? Someone more interesting than a mere steward like myself?” Mary heard Penge’s attempt to speak sardonically.

“How dare you!” the woman called Sophie raised her voice making an unsuccessful attempt to slap him. 

“Oh, I dare!” replied Penge undaunted.

The maid heard a physical struggle between the two individuals that soon turned into something more nasty. At least that’s what she deemed listening to what Penge was doing to the woman who moaned as he force kissed her.

“He is going to rape her!” Mary thought making a dash upstairs. 

Mary didn’t want to have anything to do with this but unfortunately for her, she tripped over her own dress and fell on the steps making an awful noise. 

“What was that?” she heard Sophie’s terrified whisper.

“Go, quick! I’ll handle this.” answered Penge.

Before she could even make an attempt to get up, Mary heard him climbing the stairs hastily. There was no chance of escaping nor hiding.

“That’s it, I’m doomed.” thought Mary who was now in tears.

“Well, well, well.” said Penge towering over her “Of all the palace staff, I would never expect you to be capable of spying on the Duchess, girl.”

“The D-Duchess? I-I didn’t even…”

“Get up.” he cut her short.

Mary was certain that Penge would use force to ‘help’ her up but he didn’t touch her. The steward was eyeing her with total contempt before he nodded his head and said: 

“After you.”

“W-where?” Mary stumbled over her own words.

“To my office. You know the way I’m sure.”

Reaching a conclusion that it would be better not to say anything, Mary made her way to Penge’s workroom in silence. Her days in the palace were over and there was no doubt about that. But somehow Mary didn’t involve herself in thinking about the catastrophic impact that would have on her future life. Predominantly because she was frightened of Penge’s rage and because she was somehow in awe that he had a criminal conversation with one of the Duchesses. Mary didn’t even know the Sophie woman was a Duchess until Penge revealed that to her. She wanted to tell him so but he obviously wouldn’t listen convinced that she was spying on them. But how could she? Mary could hardly open her mouth when he was around, that’s how scared of him she was. She was afraid to look at him and kept forgetting to act like a normal person while he was around. Did he think that it was only a misleading act now? If he did, what was going to happen to her? What was he planning to do? Mary prayed in her mind for Penge to just dismiss her but she didn’t believe this was going to happen. She also didn’t look forward to being called on to the carpet in his little office even though they were just a few steps away. 

Penge unlocked the door while keeping a close eye on her and said gravely:

“Inside.”

Mary went inside, her eyes contemplating the floor. Meanwhile, Penge didn’t waste time and began his aggressive interrogation.

“Who do you work for? How long have you been spying on us?”

“I’m not a spy, Mr. Penge…”

“You won't fool me with that fake timidness.” said Penge making a step closer “Look at me, girl. Look. At. Me.”

Mary jumped and gazed into his dark eyes, her face wet with tears. Being shouted at was one of the things she hated the most as her own father lavished her with yelling as often as he could. Especially when he wanted to make it clear that she couldn’t continue living with him and her siblings under the same roof anymore. Her papa didn’t love her and Mary was well aware of that fact way before he even threw her out. And now another middle-aged man, far away from home, was distressing her and Mary couldn't take it anymore. 

“Who do you work for? Is it the Duke? Does he pay you for following the Duchess around?”

“I’m not following anyone, Mr. Penge!” Mary yelped crying and shaking at the same time “I don’t even know who it was with you there! Please, just give me my notice and stop shouting at me! Please…”

Penge hesitated for a moment judging Mary’s pitiful appearance. The maid wished he told her to go to hell but apparently he had not yet finished questioning her.

“Keep your voice down, you silly thing.” he said “If you weren’t spying on the Duchess, what were you doing there?”

“Both Ann and me… I mean Annabel Smith… W-we… We were washing the grates upstairs and then Ann’s… I mean Annabel’s… fingers got hurt and I-I told her to go back because she couldn't do the job anyway and finished it myself and then…” Mary swallowed nervously “I-I got to the s-stairs leading downstairs and heard you talking to a woman…”

“What did you hear?” asked Penge.

“N-nothing.”

“You are lying, I don’t believe you. What did you hear?”

“I… I’m sorry, Mr. Penge. I don’t know whether I should repeat what I heard. It sounded… intimate.”

Penge cursed loudly and poured himself a glass of whiskey. 

“M-Mr. Penge? Sir?” asked Mary softly but there was no reply from the man who had been gulping down his drink “S-sir? It’s very late, sir… Do you think I could… that I-I could leave tomorrow morning?”

“What? Listen now, girl…” 

The steward approached her but Mary pulled back until she bumped into his desk and couldn’t withdraw no more. She remembered what he was about to do to the Duchess and she would never allow this to happen to her. Unnerved, Mary began to shudder again.

“You could only stay here if you promised me that you wouldn’t tell anyone, but I would be an old fool if I believed you.” Penge said.

“I-I would never tell anyone…” muttered Mary feeling her sweaty hands slipping on the desk surface.

“Why should I believe you?” he asked coldly.

“B-because… B-because…”

“B-becouse what?” 

“Because I’ve got a lot of respect for you, s-sir.”

Penge smirked at the sound of that but Mary only told him the truth. Even if he hadn’t caught her listening to his conversation with the Duchess, Mary wouldn’t breathe a word of this to anyone. Mr. Penge always made her nervous and sometimes could be cruel to her for a petty reason, however she never wished him bad. In a weird sort of way she fancied him, even though she wouldn’t admit that to herself consistently rejecting her secret infatuation. If truth be told, Penge was the one and only reason why she didn’t leave the palace. Mary didn’t know him one bit but she liked everything what she managed to observe so far. The girl found him very attractive and couldn’t stop imaging kissing him or stroking his sideburns. The amount of times Mary lurked in the dark watching him reading his newspaper and dreaming about coming closer to touch or embrace him was unspecified. And that day when he made fun of her just because she shouted at those stupid boys was one of the worst in her life because she couldn’t bare the thought of Penge perceiving her a loose simpleton. Mary also thought it disastrous that Penge caught her on the stairs. Not so much because she was afraid of being sacked, but because she discovered his romance with the Duchess and knew she didn’t stand a chance against her. Why would Mr. Penge choose some witless maid over a Duchess? There was no chance that he would ever consider Mary intelligent or pretty enough to start any kind of relationship with her. And yet, knowing all that and leaving aside her fear of Mr. Penge, the girl had a tiny grain of hope that everything would end well for her that night. 

“Respect, eh? It’s easy to mistake respect for fear, girl. Mrs. Turner tells me you are terrified of me.” said Penge half amused “What is it that you feel then? Is it respect or terror?”

“I dunno… Both I suppose.” said Mary quietly.

“Very interesting. Anything else?”

Mary froze as Penge’s hand stroked her wet cheek. She was speechless but enraptured. This was the realisation of her deepest desires ever since she came to the Buckingham Palace and met its steward. Still, there was something that she had to say and she felt that it would be better if she said it promptly.

“I-I…”

“Do you want me to stop touching you?” 

Mr. Penge twiddled with the lock of her hair while waiting for her respond.

“N-no, sir. I-I will do anything you want me to, sir, but…”

“But?”

“Y-you h-have to know that… I have never been with a man before.” she blurted out refusing to look at him.

His strong fingers grabbed her chin and compelled her to look straight into his shiny eyes. Mary blushed feeling terribly embarrassed but she didn’t miss Penge looking overjoyed. He must have been positively surprised that Mary was into him and seemed to forget the whole business of accusing her of spying on the Duchess. 

“Well then, maybe it’s time for you to learn a thing or two? What do you think, girl? The offer stays open.” he said laughing. 

“I… I don’t know what to say, sir.” Mary said.

“And you don’t need to. Just get down on your knees.”

“Now?”

“No, tomorrow.” Penge sneered “Yes, now.”

Mary steadily kneeled before Penge and watched him unbuttoning his trousers. At the same time, he was finishing his third drink and observing her in a bossy kind of way. The young maid was thrilled but also panicked as she didn’t even know what to do and where to start.

“I don’t know what to do, sir.” she said looking at the still floppy penis in his hand.

“Do not talk, I will tell you what to do. Take it in your hand and suck it.” Penge said.

Mary nodded and grasped his cock. She had never seen a man’s penis before but all she could say was that Mr. Penge had a big one. What she also didn’t know and what was quite a surprise for her, when she opened her mouth and sucked the head, was that it got much bigger and harder. Penge sighed in pleasure and relief reassuring her that so far she was doing everything right and Mary keenly licked and kissed his cock with her eager lips. The longer she did it, the more confident she became and the initial embarrassment was gradually fading off. But the things were about to get more difficult as Penge pushed his cock deeper and because Mary wasn’t prepared for that. She coughed spitting his manhood out and glanced at his face with fear in aim to apologise, but Penge didn’t wait for that. He pushed his cock inside her mouth again and began harshly fucking her. Mary couldn’t take it for long and spat it out again with eyes full of tears. 

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” she cried hating herself for failing him.

“Stand up.” Penge said calmly and when she did so, he turned to his bottle, all the willingness to do something naughty evaporating from his body “Go to bed, girl, and try to forget what we did tonight. It shouldn't have happened.”

“No!” the sound of her firm voice made Penge look at her with interest again “I… I wanted it to happen… Sir!”

“You don’t know what you are talking about…” 

“No, I wanted to do that with you! Only with you, sir!” Mary said and kissed him.

Penge didn’t particularly resist and kissed her back. Mary didn’t care that he was a bit drunk and kissing him reminded kissing a bottle of whiskey. She wanted that to happen, she wanted to offer herself to him willingly, and so Penge effortlessly turned her around and forced her to lay on his desk. Mary felt the older man’s hand pulling up her dress and stripping off her underwear. Penge slapped her arse with an open palm and then licked his index and middle fingers to inspect her virginity. Mary jumped once he slid the fingers inside her.

“Oh… You know this is going to hurt, don’t you?” he asked still touching her.

Mary didn’t know but she also didn't care a whit. 

“Please, just do it, sir.” she pleaded.

And he did. Pressing his work-worn hands on her sides, Penge entered her swiftly and moved inside her without any gentleness at all. Mary cried in pain and automatically tightened all her vaginal muscles to cease the awful discomfort. Penge covered her mouth and paused for a moment whispering into her ear:

“Do you want me to stop?”

Mary shook her head and when he allowed her to speak again, she sobbed:

“N-no…”

“No, sir.” Penge corrected her “You are just a maid and I am the palace steward, know your place. Are you sure you don’t want me to stop?”

“N-no, sir.”

“Good. But you need to relax, otherwise it will hurt more. You also need to be quiet.” he warned her sternly.

Mary nodded but she was worried about promising something she didn’t have under control. Mr. Penge was right, it hurt like hell, as if being torn apart inside, but she didn’t want to spoil the experience for him. Biting her lower lip, she tried her best to relax but all she could feel was throbbing pain and something warm and liquidly running down her tights. Mary didn’t know that she was bleeding, she was fighting to keep still as Penge grunted behind her taking away her innocence forever. But deep under that pain, Mary was glad that he was the one who did it and was extremely happy with this turn of events. A lot of tears had been shed by her but that hardly moved Mr. Penge who continued shagging her insensitively as if she was just an object to be used. And she wished to be. Mary wished to serve him as a sex slave even though she knew he showed her no kindness that night. The man was rough with his cock, groped her breasts and arse, pulled her hair and squeezed her face to kiss her violently and Mary was sure that didn’t help along with the pain she already felt. Nevertheless, it seemed to her that if it hadn’t been for the suffering, she would have enjoyed the intercourse immensely. Yet, at that moment, she was still weeping and hoping for Penge to finish this quickly. Telling him that wasn’t a good idea but Mary wasn’t sure how much more she could endure. 

“M-Mr. Penge… Sir…” she cried expecting Penge to take pity on her and be more tender.

Penge, in turn, pressed her cheeks firmly with his fingers and leaned over her face.

“Tell me, girl… Who owns you?” he murmured.

Mary burst into tears once again as she couldn’t take it any longer.

“Y-you, sir.” she snivelled.

“What’s that? Speak up, I can’t hear you.” 

“You, sir! You, sir!”

“That’s right. Don’t you ever forget that.” Penge said loosening his grip.

He never stopped fucking her hard and after a while, Mary laid on the desk motionless, groaning and listening to the sound of her bottom cheeks rhythmically smacking against Penge’s body. She only managed to close her eyes holding on to the thought that she belonged to her palace steward now and that her dreams eventually came true. Once she didn’t have any more strength left to cry and she managed to get used to the horrible pain, Penge was just about to finish.

“Oh, damn!” he panted too late to retreat and coming inside her.

Mary heard his long shuddering gasp and felt the warmness of his seed inside her. Somehow, she considered it very soothing and remained laying on the desk for a short while. When she opened her eyes, she saw Penge wiping his sweaty forehead with his jacket sleeve and glancing at her. 

“You alright, girl?” he asked.

Mary shook her head and slowly got back to her feet. Her eyes were still wet with tears but she made an effort to smile before rushing into his arms. Penge reluctantly allowed her to cling to him searching for his bottle with a longing look. He evidently didn’t like her cuddling him but Mary was happy and grateful that she could be close to him and wasn’t pushed away.

“Thank you, sir.” she said with endearment “But I’m so sore…”

“Come, let’s sit down then.” he answered rather impatiently and made his way towards the desk with Mary stuck to his arm.

They sat together at the desk, Mary next to him on a chair he dragged somewhere out of the corner of the room. 

“Want a drink?” Penge asked her pouring himself another line “You will feel better.” 

Mary wasn’t keen on drinking but agreed to it and accepted a glass full of whiskey. As soon as the smell hit her nostrils and the strong liquor touched her lips, she grimaced and stuck her tongue out in disgust. Penge chuckled finishing his drink and sat back relaxed and intoxicated. But Mary didn't see the face of a drunk middle-aged man who had just taken advantage of her young and virgin body as for her he was always the sweetest thing. She loved his mocking smile and when he laughed, her heart rate went up because he looked so handsome whenever he did it. 

“Feeling better?” he asked.

“Better, sir.” Mary lied taking another little sip from her glass and wincing. 

Penge laughed again.

“You aren’t very good at this, you know.”

“Sorry, sir. I wish I was.”

“Oh, you stupid thing.” Penge said “Why did you insist on me doing this? There are a lot of young and pretty boys out there who, I’m sure, would show you some interest, but yet you chose an old man like me. What do you want? Money? I have some but not as much as you think, girl.”

“No. I… I don’t want your money, sir.” said Mary who now sounded very disappointed.

Penge raised his eyebrows.

“So? What do you want?” he asked.

Gazing into his eyes, Mary thought what she could actually say to him that wouldn’t sound idiotic or absurd. She couldn’t just start babbling about her fondness for him and how awful it was for her to put up with being ignored or derided by him, or just how badly she wanted to kiss him and caress his sideburns. None of this would make any sense to him and he couldn’t be blamed for not believing her. After all, it was Mary herself who put in doubt her own emotions and couldn't accept the simple fact she was in love with an older man. And Mr. Penge was an old cynic who would poke fun at her again, only more cruelly this time. 

“N-nothing. I suppose you just… charmed me, sir.” she said at last forcing a smile. 

“I have charmed you? Do you think you live in a fairy tale, girl? Get a grip on yourself. You don’t even know where to look for your Prince Charming because you are definitely not looking at one right now.”

Mary felt her smile dropping, which Penge didn’t fail to notice. 

“What’s your name?” he asked her before she could get sad again.

“Mary Jones, sir.”

“I’ve just realised why I couldn’t remember your name, Miss Jones. There are too many Joneses in the palace.” he said changing the subject completely.

“But I will be your favourite Jones now, won’t I?” Mary wanted to ask but instead she starred at him with immense love and devotion.

Whatever opinion the steward had about what had just happened between them, Mary was conscious of the fact it wasn’t just a silly girl crush she experienced but something far more serious. Her prolonged and silent look must have made Penge uncomfortable as he stood up and stated very suddenly:

“Well, Miss Jones, I don’t know about you but I’m feeling weary. That said, I’m going to bed. You should too bearing in mind you’ve got only a few hours sleep left.”

But Mary only kept gazing at him slowly digesting his words. It was stupid of her to think that he would take her to his bed and they would spend the whole night together. They were servants in the Queen’s service which meant none of them could form any kind of relationship under the palace roof. Penge, however, broke some of the rules already getting involved with her and the Duchess, so Mary did hope that maybe she would be lucky enough to hug and kiss him all night long. 

“Maybe next time.” she thought with a heavy sigh.

“Goodnight, Miss Jones.” said Penge opening the door.

“Mr. Penge, sir…” Mary said taking his hand and kissing it “I will miss you very much, sir.”

“You will see me sometime tomorrow, I’m sure.” said Penge whisking her hand away “Go to bed, Miss Jones. Now.”

“Yes, Mr. Penge. Goodnight, sir.”

Mary couldn’t really say anything else as she had to leave the office. Penge appeared to be cold but she guessed it wasn’t the real him. Because the real him was attracted to her and enjoyed her company. The real him made love and quaffed whiskey with her ridiculing her drinking skills. And now the person who dismissed her was Penge the steward, the man keeping up appearances, always alone, doom and gloom. Nobody would imagine that this type of a man could have fancied her, it was inconceivable and awkward. But Mary knew better not to be uncertain about it anymore.

“If you are doubting that, then you don’t know men well enough yet.” the echo of Abigail Turner’s voice assured Mary’s confused mind.

The maid looked over her shoulder to catch the last glimpse of her lover and quietly disappeared in the dark corridor leading to her tiny room. There was a broad smile on her face mixed with a shade of worry as she remembered how desperate Mr. Penge was to see the Duchess again. Should she be troubled by that? Mary didn’t know and she could only wait for Penge to decide which one of them was more precious to him. However, she was positive to have an advantage over the noble lady as she gave up her chastity to please him.

“But a Duchess is still a Duchess, Mary. She will always be above you.” spoke an irritating voice in her head. 

Mary ignored it thinking about Penge’s lovely smile. Pondering on something else was totally unnecessary right now and she really needed to get some sleep to keep functioning the following day. 

“Every day is harder than the previous one.” she thought entering her bedroom and instantly collapsing on the bed.


End file.
